Digital Rose
by Jasmine Culliver
Summary: As one of the survivors of Andross's experiments struggles to fit in with the the new world, she finds comfort in the man who rescued her. Love isnt easy though, especially for those who suffer.
1. Prolouge

**This is the begining of something new and exciting for me, and hopefully it will be enjoyed as much by you reading it as I have enjoyed making it.**

**To get the legal stuff out of the way, Star Fox and all its characters belong to Nintendo. All my characters belong to me. **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**xxxxxxx**

It has only been a week since the defeat of Venom. Only a week since the death of the most deadly tyrant in the history of Lylat. Venom still smoldered on its surface, elements of the Venomian Army still being rounded up. But for the most part, this was now peace time. Though you wouldnt know it after a glance at Venom and its outlying sectors. Patrols of CDF fighters still swarmed all around from Macbeth to Sector Z, doing their best to make sure no Venomian troops could escape to continue the fight. Luckily, the majority had simply surrendered once Andross had been defeated at the hands of the mercenary group known as Star Fox. They were the biggest hero's in Lylat since the days of the establishment of the Cornerian Empire.

But to one unbiased soul, that didnt matter much. Gabriel Lawerence was a writer, but he was far from a simple fictioneer who wanted to cash in on the lives of countless soldiers who had paid the ultimate price on both sides. Rather, he was renowned as being an expert on military tactics, having been a former officer in the navy himself. Even though the leopard gave up the military life early, not having the stomach to take lives, he was still one of the most respected persons associated with fleet tactics and had been a trusted advisor to General Pepper during the Cornerian counter attack after the defense of Corneria. It was his advice that had turned the tide at Zoness, and he was one of the few to agree with the general's decision to use Star Fox in the degree that they had.

But now, his advisory role was over.

The war was over.

But he knew there was still many lives that were yet to be taken before true peace could be restored and this his put him at unease as he gazed out the window of the _Pegasus-class_ transport that was taking him to the surface of Venom itself. Large sections of Venom were dangerous to set foot on without a enviromental suit or simliar protection, but Andross's terraforming had allowed for small sections of the planet to be moderately livable, if unhealthy for the citizens that called it home. It was one of these sections that he was being taken to, Andross's palace to be exact. It was here that he was search for any evidence of further military reaserch and hidden technology that may be present there. It was his last task, he was to oversee the exploration and then he could finally go home.

The young leopard brushed aside his long black hair that ended about his shoulders, hardly the hairstyle of a soldier. Yet, it suited him. He had always been known as a rebel, and fair to boot. Too fair in fact, he had been investigated twice by Cornerian police during his time with the military due to his willingness to point out Corneria's flaws as well as Venom's. This had earned respect with some, and ire with others. But he didnt really care about that, he did what he thought was right and dealt with the consequences. It was a simple philosophy that had gotten him far to this point, and he was not about to stop now.

But his thoughts turned to the planet below and his last assingment before taking the long trip home. He really didnt exepect to find anything, surely anything of true value had been either destroyed or taken off planet by now. But still, orders were orders and with the panic that the Venomian troops had left with when they learned of their emperor's death, you never know.

His thoughts were interuppted by being poked in the side by one of his armored guards, a young husky sergant named Jell Lasky that he was on quite friendly terms with.

"You know, you should really put some protection on sir. Those fanatics on the ground are still lurking about the palace grounds from what ive been told. Seems they dont want to let their emperor's home go so easily."

Gabriel smiled. "First of all, im not your commander. You know that, so cut out the sir if you dont mind. Secondly, those "fanatics" as you call them, are probably just scared citzens thinking that we, the invader, are here to rape and pillage them."

Jell opened his mouth to speak but the spotted cat interupped him. "Now, they no doubt think that only because of their emperor's brainwashing. Who can blame them? If the person I thought was God himself told me that the people invading my planet were here to kill myself and my family, I would probably believe him. But at the same time, I dont think we have anything to worry about. I believe that a score of armed guards is more than a match for scared civilans armed with nothing more than rocks and harsh words, dont you think?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

Gabriel returned his gaze back to the viewport as they entered Venom's stratosphere. He was known, and had caught some flack from the Cornerian media for this, as being in the middle when it came to the conflict between the two planets. He may have been a Cornerian officer at one point, but he was no fan of the racist treatment that he belived had given Andross all the ammunition he had needed to do the same in return. In his eyes, both sides were at fault for the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. In the words of one famous Cornerian colonel, "In war, there are no winners, just survivors."

But he had no more time to bother himself with his own mental debate over who was right or wrong, as the transport landed on one of the landing pads at Andross's golden palace that had once housed a madman. He had a job to do now.

The large metal gate at the end of the transport slowly swung open, and his twenty or so guards stood up to step off. Gabriel joined them as they walked off single file onto solid ground again, with Gabriel brushing past them to speak to the pair of soldiers that stood waiting for him at the end of the landing pad. The sky was a bright green that was almost hurtful to the eyes, and the air was harsh to the lungs. It seemed fitting that this hostile enviroment was the home to Lylat's greatest enemy.

Gabriel coughed several times as he walked off the landing pad and shook the hands of the soldiers that waited for him. One of them, a bulldog captain, offered a mask to the leopard who graciously accepted it.

"Good to see you here sir, we've already discovered several bunkers underneath the palace grounds. We had no idea we were there until scans from orbit showed them right under our feet. We havent been inside them yet, we were told to wait for you."

Gabriel nodded. "Thats all well and good captain, but why wait for me?"

"Orders are orders, though I asked that exact question to my surperior. Said he wants someone who will give an honest report about what we find, though that doesnt sound good to me."

"Well if the bunkers are hidden under the palace grounds, then you can bet that Andross himself may have been involved with whatever went down. The man was an honest scientist once after all."

"Yeah, and im prime minister."

Gabriel shrugged off his remark and motioned for the captain to lead the way. They entered the palace proper where scores of Cornerian soldiers were scurrying about taking whatever they could find and packing it into containers to be shipped back to Corneria, this was their prize of battle. The looting made Gabriel a bit uneasy but he kept his mouth shut. Many of these men were veterans and had seen many friends die in the course of this brutal conflict. He could understand their sentiment.

They descended down floors of stairs and once beautiful rooms of carved granite and laced with gold and silver. Many of the ceilings were paved with precious jewels that sparkled off the glint of the soldiers armor, a few of them were busy putting together makeshift ladders in an attempt to pry them from the ceiling. The captain did nothing to stop this and the group continued their journey past lavish libraries and guest rooms where once the patron guests of the emperor had stayed.

It wasnt long until they came to the bottom of the palace, where soldiers where busy entering and leaving with their pillage. They rounded the back of the silver main stairs that ascended to the heights of the palace, standing in their way was a large set of doors that looked like they had blown open with explosives. They passed these doors to come to yet another winding set of stairs that seemed to stretch down for quite some distance.

"Andross sure seemed to like his exercise, I havent seen an elevator yet." The captain remarked with a sigh.

"From what I understand, Andross was in prime physical health. Having so many stairs would be a way of showing how strong he was, to exhaust his followers while he was not would be a way of showing of for him I guess."

A few of the soldiers behind Gabriel exhanged a few looks with each other, though the Captain seemed to almost sense that and whirled around to glare at his men. Gabriel ignored this and only began his descent into the armored bunkers that Andross had kept secret from even those at the palace. It was a long climb downwards, as even the physically fit leopard had to stop to catch his breath and let his legs rest for a few moments.

As they neared the bottom, Gabriel was suprised to see that the stairs ended in a pair of massive doors at the end of a hallway. Several Cornerian soldiers were busy setting explosives to the doors as they approached.

"These doors are made of Thermosteel, the same materiel that captial ship armor is made of. Andross really didnt want people getting in unless they were invited."

Gabriel nodded and motioned for the captain to continue. "All right then, how do you plan to open them?"

The bulldog walked up to the door and patted the charge that was secured to the door. "These are some new toys that have been sent down from the flyboys up top. On the outside, these are your typical satchel charges. On the inside though, is about 5 grams of Novalite. Straight from the ammo from the big guns of the _Estonia_ in orbit. These should have no problem getting through."

Gabriel smiled and chuckled to himself. "I suppose with the war over, we have to use all the spare explosives we have lying around. Either that or throw it away I guess."

"Pretty much."

The pair of soldiers that had been scuring the novalite charges to the hardened doors stepped back and handed a detonator to the captain. The bulldog ordered his men back up the stairs.

"All right, everyone needs to be at least half way up. You definetly dont want to be here when this bad boy goes off."

Gabriel muttered something under his breath as he did as he was told, though there was no way he was going all the way back up again. He was joined by the captain and a few onlookers as they waited for the last of the soldiers to ascend back onto the palace grounds. Gabriel looked back and nodded at his guards that stood ready for his orders.

"Captain, after the doors are blown, keep your men in the palace grounds. My guards will provide security."

The bulldog seemed surprised. "Why? Is there something I need to know?"

Gabriel shook his head. "No, but whatever we find down there is classified materiel, if there is anything to be found at all. I wouldnt worry about it captain, most likely these bunkers have been cleared out already."

The captain nodded reluctantly and after taking one last look to make sure everyone was a safe distance away, pressed the button on the detonator. At first nothing happened. Gabriel was unimpressed.

"You sure your men got this set up r-"

**BOOM!**

A large flash accompanied the defening noise and the grounds around them shook with the force of the detonantion. Several loose debris fell from the stairs and dust was shaken loose from the cieling.

The captain smiled. "Oh im sure."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and after a few mintues wait, descended back down the stairs with his men, the captain staying behind as he was told. When they reached the bottom again, the entire floor and walls were painted a deep black and were still smoldering with the fire of the Novalite bomb. Everything beyond the now breached doors was a pitch black as the leopard's guards drew their weapons and activated their night vision visors on their helmets. Jell handed Gabriel one and the leopard ordered his men forward in the darkness.

"Keep it tight Lasky, dont take any chances."

The husky nodded as he and his men pushed forward, guns at the ready. Gabriel stayed behind and paced nervously as several minutes went by. Finally, a large pitbull emerged from the darkness and waved at his commanding officer. Gabriel put on his visor and went with him into the blackness. All around him were gutted computers and what looked like operating tables of some kind. Rows upon of rows of burnt discs and books sat on one end of the wall while the other end spilt off into a seperate tunnel, which Jell and a few others were exploring further.

"Looks like they left in a hurry, made sure to either destroy or take with them everything not nailed down too." The pitbull remarked.

Gabriel noded and examined one of the smashed computers to see if its hard drive was still present. Finding none, he ordered a few soldiers to check the other computers when Jell emerged back out of the other tunnel.

"Sir, you need to see this."

Gabriel turned quickly to see a stone faced Jell doing his best to not look the leopard in the eye.

"Find anything?"

"You can say that. I might bring a gag if I were you."

Gabriel gave him a curious look and proceeded with him down the tunnel until they came to a series of rooms with giant glass walls and barred doors. Jell's troops were standing around looking uneasy, and there was a sense of evil in the corridor. Gabriel cursed inwardly, they were cells. He approached the first one to reveal a mound of bodies, all shot through the back of the head execution style.

"Son of a bitch."

"Tell me about it. A few of these cells contained children sir."

Gabriel wheeled around to look him in the eye, as if attempting to see if he was lying. Jell only stared right back. Gabriel moved past him with an under his breath curse. "I dont need to see that, Ill take your word for it."

"Sir we've got a live one!" A voice called out from down the cell block

Jell and Gabriel exchanged looks and rushed to where the voice had originated, all the the way at the end of the cell block. There, a pair of soldiers were busy attempting to break into a cell where a similar mound of bodies could be seen, but this one was different. Curled up in a ball was a single feline female, covered only by a ragged blanket that looked like it had been looted from another prisoner. With several kicks and blows from their rifle butt's, the door swung open and the feline withing crawled into a corner in a pitiful attempt to get away.

"Its alright, we are with the CDF. You're safe now." Gabriel spoke as he ordered his men to stay back. If they crowded around her, it might frighten her into doing something drastic.

The leopard came to a stop several steps away from the ragged black furred feline and there he went down on his knees. He smiled at the young girl and offered his hand.

"My name is Gabriel, im not here to hurt you. I promise."

The girl sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest as Gabriel realized she was completely naked except for the poor excuse for a blanket she wore.

"You must be freezing...here."

He took off his navy jacket and handed it to her, though she did not accept it at first. Gabriel laid it gently down on her lap and took a step back, allowing her room to consider. After a few moments, she gingerly and shakingly put the jacket on and looked up at the leopard. Her eyes were a startling red that seemed almost...artificial.

Gabriel offered his hand again. "Take my hand. We'll protect you, I swear."

The girl stared at his hand for a moment, as if unsure if it was a hand or a dagger. But after some hesitation, she reached out and joined hands with him. Gabriel helped her to her feet as he wrapped his jacket around her shoulders.

"Whats your name?" He asked in a friendly tone.

"9."

Gabriel drew his breath in sharply, if the only name she remembered was a number then she might have been here quite a long time.

"Alright 9, my name is Gabriel. Its nice to meet you. Lets get you out of here alright?"

Gabriel nodded to Jell and handed her off to him who picked her up by her legs and carried her out to the entrance. Gabriel gave one last look to the mound of bodies that sat mouldering in the corner. He always had a begrudging respect for Andross for his intellect, especially before the war. But now, all that respect faded. The man he had once respected had become a monster in his final years, and this prison was its proof.

After checking the other cells for survivors, they found none, Gabriel and his guards retreated to the surface where the leopard called in a forensics team to examine the cells and photograph the remains. Andross may have been dead, but someone was going to be charged with war crimes for these henious acts. It was a horrendus end to the final moments of Gabriels service to the Cornerian military. He sat down on the main silver stairs just inside the entrance, grateful that his part to this horrible war was over.

He prayed a silent prayer for the single survior of those prisons, and made his way back to the landing pad above him. There he sat down in the same seat he had arrived in, and waited for his guards to join him. Jell sat down next to him and pulled out a cigarette, clearly just as shaken as he was.

"Goddamn, I though I had seen it all."

Gabriel nodded and reached over and took the cigarette from Jells mouth, placing it in his own. Jell's surprise turned to laughter as he gave his companion a second look.

"I thought you dont smoke?"

"I dont."

And with that, the transport lifted back up and ascended into the stars.

**XXXXXXXX**

**And with that, we have the prolouge. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and ill see you guys next time!**


	2. Moving on

**I really apologize for the delay, ive had work and some personal issues to work through lately. But hopefully from here on out I can get on a more stable update schedule.**

**Anyway. **

**Enjoy!**

**xxxxxxx**

**One Month Later.**

"So, after careful evaluation, we can conclude that several factors were the primary cause to the war with Venom. Number one: the forced exile of Andross Oikonny to Venom solidified, in his mind, the idea that he had been betrayed and set up by the Cornerian government. Though there are rumors of other reasons and the disputed murder trial involving the wife of James McCloud, we can not rely on such things to draw a reliable conclusion. Thus we can rule that it was a combination of his own exile and the racist policies of Corneria at the time that led to him starting Venom's military buildup.

Second: the policies of the Cornerian and Macbeth governments at the time. Such policies of canids and felines before others no doubt agitated racial fervor amongst those that took refuge with Andross and gave him all the ammunition he needed to fuel his war machine. Not to mention it gave an excuse for some of the atrocities that took place on Macbeth and other planets occupied by Venom during the early days of the war. Not that I am saying that such acts were justified of course, but rather that in the eyes of those who committed these crimes, they were excusable.

Lastly: economic growth. One can easily see that Corneria no doubt viewed Venom as a threat during its inital buildup and brief economic boom while the terraforming on the planet was proceeding so well. Though this was halted once the war broke out, this wave of workers and supplies to Venom no doubt elevated the threat that Corneria was perceiving from Andross and his people. Corneria has been the dominant power in Lylat for decades and the idea of being surpassed no doubt agitated Parliment."

Gabriel smiled, pressing a button on the remote he held in his hand as he did so. The lights came back on, and the projector behind him turned off. He was in a classroom at the Beltino Institute on Corneria, perhaps the most respected place of learning in Lylat. As a respected source of military and historical viewpoints, Gabriel had been invited to speak at a history class. In front of him were about thirty to forty students who had been busy taking notes on his presentation, though some seemed a little skeptical.

This didnt really surprise Gabriel much, Corneria was in the fervor of Victory over Venom day, or VV day, and an unbiased view of the war would not be recieved as well by the youth of the world at the moment. For now at least. Gabriel walked over to a podium in front of the wide, spacious, lecture hall where he had spent the last hour presenting his most recent report on the war.

"Any questions?"

A young canine in the front row raised his hand and stood up after being awknowledged by the snow leopard.

"Do you not think that Andross's attemped murder of the McCloud family was the primary cause in turning him against Corneria?"

Gabriel scratched his chin. "The primary cause? No, I dont think so. Though im sure that the much publicized trial had at least a small part in him doing what he did, my sources and reasarch have shown that Andross was already making moves to prepare for a military buildup on Venom at the time. Though its possible that the trial might have accelerated his movements, I dont think it was the primary cause. Not to mention, if you remember, the trial was split. There was still plenty of people that did not believe that Andross was capable of doing such a thing."

The canine sat back down with an perplexed look on his face.

Gabriel looked around the room. "Any other questions?"

Another canine, this one a female with a VV T-shirt, stood up next.

"Venom accused Macbeth of opening fire first, and that they were only defending their interests on Venom by invading the planet. Corneria and Macbeth said that Venom shot first. Did your research reveal who actually did shoot first?"

"Thats a good question, and im not sure I have an answer. That first day was extremely hectic, communications from Macbeth were cut by Venom special forces not long after the first shots were fired, and all audio records of the first battle are classified by the Cornerian government. Though this classification of what should be public knowledge is a little suspicious of the Cornerian government, the fact that Venom had sabetours already in palce to cut all off planet communications from Macbeth would indicate to me at least that this was planned by Venom. Perhaps the whole accusation of Macbeth shooting first was simply a propaganda ploy by Andross to make it seem like he was in the right to invade Macbeth. But thats just my opinion, dont put too much into it."

The girl sat down, apparently a little dissapointed, and no other hands were raised.

"No other questions? Okay. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your very busy school day to give me the honor of presenting my recent findings on the war with Venom and its causes. As your teachers have no doubt promised you, you will recieve extra credit for being here." Gabriel finished with a smile.

The students stood up and clapped for several moments as Gabriel walked off the stage. He waved his thanks to the students and was greeted at the base of the stairs by none other than Beltino Tolado himself. The father of Slippy Tolado and one of the most prestigous scientists in all of Lylat, he had founded the Beltino Institute as the premier source of advanced learning on Corneria. This wasnt the first time Gabriel had taught at the Institute, so he had gotten to know the toad quite well.

Beltino shook his hand as the students stood up to leave. "Excellent as always my friend, its good to have an unbiased opinion here for once. Though I cant really blame people for their hatred of that ape."

Gabriel nodded. "Neither can I. Thank you for giving me the oppritunity to come back here, my time on the front had made me a bit weary to tell the truth and ive kind of missed my university days."

"There's always room for you here Gabriel, you can always finish your degree."

"Ha, thank you but ill pass. I got a lot of things on my plate at the moment, most of all my new book, and I really wouldnt have the time to keep up with my studies. Maybe sometime when im not so busy?"

Beltino smiled and released his hand, he had quite a forcefull handshake.

"Of course, of course. But there's something I need to talk to you about. Something important, and also a favor to me."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows in curiostity. "Really? You know im always here to help, though im not sure what good a writer is to the director of the Beltino Institute."

"Oh I think you'll be perfect for what I have in mind. Come with me, we can talk it over in my office."

The pair exited behind the lines of students who were heading off for lunch, Gabriel had almost forgotten it was midday already. As they made their past throngs of students heading for the exits, he could only marvel at the beauty of this place of learning. The walls and floors were a beautiful blue marble and the ceilings were an advanced type of glass that adjusted to Lylat's rays and allowed in just the right amount of light. This building wide type of ceiling meant that there were few real artificial light sources on during the day, at least on the top floors.

Gabriel and Beltino made their way to an elevator that took them to the top floor, where Beltino had his office. The top floor was reserved for the teachers and professors that were privileged to work here, though there were a few labs for some of the more advanced classes present as well. Beltino's office was as large and spacious as the institute itself, with its backwalls lined with bookcases. This was something of a rarity in Lylat as books have been largely replaced by online sources, but Beltino was a great lover of classic reading.

Gabriel took a seat in the leather chair in front of his desk as Beltino sat down behind it and took a moment to look over his vid screen on the computer on his desk. After puling up a file, he turned the screen around so that Gabriel could see it. It was a picture of a girl in a medical smock, a black feline to be exact, with striking red eyes, looking at the camera with a mute tone. That's when Gabriel remembered, he had seen those eyes before. Venom!

"Do you recognize this woman?" Beltino spoke matter of factly.

"Yes, if I remember correctly, she was one of the survivors we pulled out of those prisons on Venom." Gabriel said as he continued to look at her bright red eyes. They didnt seem natural, those sparkling red rubies that seemed to pierce right through him.

"The only survivor actually. She is quite the find as well, if unfortunate."

"What do you mean?"

"The girl has undergone quite a bit of cybernetic implantation, most of it internal, that quite honestly makes her more machine than person. She wont tell us why this was done to her, in fact she hasnt said much at all until recently. She only identifies herself as '9'."

Gabriel nodded. "I remember now. What kind of implantation has been done on her...and why are you interested? There must be something you are not telling me."

Beltino sighed before continuing. "Yes, some of the implants are quite unique, never before seen in a person, at least successfully. The girl was brought to the institute so that she could recover and be studied, we have the best psychiatrists in Lylat here and quite honestly she needs them. Though not a lot of progress has been made."

"Study her?"

"Oh she is fascinating. She has implants throughout her nervous and muscular system, as well as some some on the outside of her body that seem almost cosmetic. Perhaps some kind of joke from her captors? I dont know."

Beltino leaned forward and spoke in a very serious tone. "But this is where I need you Gabriel. The CDF is interested in her due to her implantation, there are some that even think she is dangerous. The Cornerian forensic team on Venom made their report on what they found in that cache and its not pleasant. All of the bodies in those prisons were filled with similar cybernetic implantation, it seems they were experimenting on them Gabriel."

This new revelation made the snow leopard uneasy. "So she was a test subject? But for what? Did the forensic team give an explanation?"

Beltino shook his head. "No, they didnt. In fact, the findings were immediately made classified, so I cant help you much there. As for the girl, she doesnt act dangerously, she doesnt show much emotion or action at all really, but there are those who are a little concerned. Her implants make her quite strong and she could really hurt someone if she wanted to. But to get back to the point, I need you here. She's obviously frightened and in need of extended medical care. But she wont speak to anyone, until recently at least."

"What did she say?"

"She asked for you actually."

This caught Gabriel by surprise and he took a moment to digest this new information. "Really? She asked for me?"

"Yes, and she wont say anything else either. How does she know you?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Not really? I mean, I did tell her my name when she was pulled out of that hole in the ground. I tried my best to make her trust me so we wouldnt have to forcefully take her out. Perhaps she feels like she can trust me a little?"

"So it seems. Please Gabriel, ive seen enough suffering in this war to last a lifetime. Speak to her, see if you cant calm her nerves a bit. If she makes positive progress in the next few days, ill have medical reason to not turn her over to the CDF. Thats all im asking, a few hours of the next couple of days. Thats it."

Gabriel thought it over for a few moments. He had hoped to erase any memories of that horrible dungeon beneath Andross's palace for good, but if he could help another soul in need, especially someone who had clearly suffered greatly at the hands of the enemy, then it would be worth it. Besides, he owed Beltino anyway.

"Ok, ill do it. Is she here?"

"Yes, just across the street at the university medical center. Ill let them know you are coming. Thank you Gabriel, this means a lot to me."

Gabriel stood up and shook his old mentor's hand. "Of course, though we are even after this one. Got it?"

"Yeah yeah, get out of my office cheapskate."

Gabriel smirked and did as he was told, leaving his office and heading for the elevator. He was no therapist, but if this girl trusted him and him alone then he would do what he could. He should have known that he hadn't seen the last of her. As he descended back down to the ground floor, he couldn't help but be mistified by the thought of the girls eyes, that same bright, beautiful crimson that had first caught his attention in those dank bunkers on Venom. Maybe there was something to be learned from this girl, and as he considered it more, maybe even an oppurtunity.

**xxxxxxx**

**Twenty Minutes Later**

Gabriel arrived in the therapeutic wing at the Beltino Institute Medical Center shortly after, stepping past nurses and doctors buzzing about the hallways. There were quite a few victims of the war still being treated here, from Cornerian soldiers dealing with shellshock to civilians who had lost love ones and needed help dealing with their grief. He made his way past these people and came to his objective, a normally restricted area where some of the more severe cases were being dealt with.

Gabriel swiped a card he had been given by the front desk and entered another set of quiet hallways that split off into seperate wings. As he entered, he was greeted by a blue and green plumaged avian doctor named Terry.

"Are you Gabriel? My name is Doctor Terry, a pleasure to meet you."

Gabriel shook his hand. "Yeah thats me, you the one in charge of the girl?"

Terry shook his head. "Im one of several doctors and therpists that look after her, though I must say im intrigued to hear what she has to say to you actually. How do you know her?"

"Its a long story doctor, ill tell you about it later. Where is she?"

Terry motioned for Gabriel to follow. "This way, ill take you to her room."

The pair walked down to the very end of the hallway and took a left to a seperate ward. The white sterile walls seemed to be a bit unerving to him but he kept his mouth shut, he had always depised hosptials. Anything that kept him tied down was not someplace he wanted to be often. They came to the end of the ward and opened a door to their right, which revealed a quiet cozy room with a single bed, Vid screen for entertainment, and a couch for visitors to sit on.

On the bed was the person of interest, though she looked quite a bit more healthy than the last time he had seen her. She was clad in a blue medical smock and had been busy flipping through the channels on the vid screen when she turned her head to view her visitors. Gabriel drew in his breath a little bit as those same ruby eyes looked him over. Her hair was a long and raven black that seemed to accomidate her black and red fur tone quite well. It was straight and well kept, and Gabriel had to check himself as he looked her over. For a former victim of Venomian experimentation, she was quite beautiful.

"Good evening Ms 9, you have a visitor today."

The girl sat up in surprise as she recognized Gabriel and quickly got to her feet. This seemed to alarm the doctor a bit.

"Now now, no need to get upset. This is Gabriel. Do you two know each other?"

The girl stared at Gabriel for a few moments before speaking, a thick accent that Gabriel recognized as Macbethian.

"No."

Terry was quite surpirsed at getting a response out of her but did his best to hide it, moving over to the table next to her bed to check on her vital signs. While he was doing that, Gabriel moved closer to her and smiled at the girl, though she only continued to stare at him blankly. After Terry was finished with his vital check, he picked up her clipboard and after writing several notes down, looked over to Gabriel.

"Alright, she looks stable as always. Ill leave you two alone for a little bit, ive got other patients to check on. Good luck."

He exited out the door leaving Gabriel and the girl alone. Gabriel put his hands behind his back and spoke in a friendly tone.

"My name is Gabriel Lawerence, though I think you know that already. Im not a doctor or a therpist, so im not going to bother you with too many questions."

The girl sat back down on her bed and nodded. "Thank you."

"Do you have a name besides the number they gave you in prison? Do you remember?"

The girl said nothing at first, as if deep in thought. "I-I dont. Ive tried so hard to, but I cant. I cant remember anything about...about before I was with the emperor."

Gabriel took a moment to digest what she said before taking a seat on the couch next to her bed.

"I'm not here to judge you. I promise. I just want to help."

"You've already helped. You saved me."

"Well, I was just doing my job. Im just glad we found you when we did, I was scared that no one survived."

Gabriel fumbled with his hands awkwardly before continuing. "How are you doing though? Seriously? You've been through a lot, and to have done-"

Gabriel chose his next words carefully. "To have done to you what has been done by those monsters on Venom, is not an easy thing to overcome, im sure."

She only nodded and ran her hands through her hair nervously. Gabriel continued with his questioning. "Why did you want to speak to me? Why not talk to the doctors?"

"Because...I know you arent with him."

"Him? Who's him?"

"The emperor."

"You mean you were involved with Andross?"

She nodded. "I was...his personal servant for a time. I remember a little before I captured, I was born on Macbeth, I think. Though I cant remember my parents or what I was doing before him or-"

She stopped suddenly, clearly begining to get upset. Gabriel stood up and approched her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I wont ask you anything else. You've been through too much for me to bother you with any more questions."

"Thank you. I think I-I think going to lay down bit ok? It hurts to think about what happened."

"I understand."

A knock came on the door and Terry poked his head through the door. "Everything going alright?"

"Yeah, I was just leaving. She needs rest."

Gabriel turned to leave when the girl grabbed his hand suddenly. Gabriel turned back to look at her with concern, staring into those beautiful eyes of hers.

"Give me a name."

"What? Now?"

"Yes, I dont want to think about what I used to be. I want to be someone else. Give me a name."

Gabriel took a few moments to think, looking around the room for inspiration before turning back to look at the girl, her red and black fur giving him a thought.

"How about Robin?"

"Robin..."

She thought it over for a few seconds before looking up and smiling at the snow leopard.

"Robin is nice. I like it."

Gabriel smiled back. "Robin it is then. Get some rest Robin, ill be back to see you soon."

With that Gabriel left the room and was joined outside by the Doctor Terry. He spoke in an excited tone, clearly elated at their interaction.

"Thats the first time ive seen her smile. Quite honestly Gabriel, I would love if you came to visit her again. Say, tommorrow?"

Gabriel thought it over. Robin was certainly interesting, and he did have a few days before he really needed to retun to work on his book. Why not?

"Sure, ill do it."

"Wonderful! Just hold on to the pass we gave you at the front desk. How about you come by in the early moring, does 8:00 sound good to you?"

"That would be fine."

"Excellent. Well then, thank you very much Gabriel and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day."

With that, the avian was gone and Gabriel took his leave of the hospital. As he walked out the front door back to his skycar, he wondered at what he could truly learn from Robin, if she really had been in contact with Andross himself. If she really had been around him for quite a bit of time, then she could be a literal gold mine of information about Venom politics during the war. And then there was her cybernetics, which was another set of quesitons entirely. Why had they experimented on her? Would she even be able to tell him? She clearly had suffered a good bit of trauma in her time there.

As he sat in his car, going over the days events, he realized that he was being selfish. This womand had suffered things that he could never dream of surviving and here he was trying to see what he could gain from her. How wrong of him! He slapped himself upside the said so that he would remember not to do it again, and keyed the ignition to his car. No, he was not going to be in this for him.

He was in this for her sake.

**xxxxxxx**

**Well, there is chapter one. Many thanks you guys for reading, and ill see you guys next time!**


End file.
